


Spin It 'Round

by Erin330



Category: Vienna Blood (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23441542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erin330/pseuds/Erin330
Summary: This is a different spin on the tv-show, I hope you like it.
Relationships: Max Liebermann & Oskar Rheinhardt, Max Liebermann/OC
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. The Sceance Murders

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING! Historically inacurate when it comes to the Ottoman Empire, and everything about Austrian society in the early 1900's is taken from the show Vienna Blood. I also tend to make up a lot of things along the way, so be prepared for that.

Max Liebermann was tapping with his fingers on the wooden desk of Inspector Rheinhardt, thinking about their latest find, namely the killer’s profile. The man they were looking for had a lot to lose when Charlotte Löwenstein revealed their affair to the public.  
He’d heard the yelling between Rheinhardt and the Commissioner about his theory. He was glad the Inspector believed it, but it was hard to convince other police officers of the value of psychology.  
When the inspector came back into the office, he sighed and just threw his coat onto the wooden rack. “I don’t think I can convince Strasser, but they just might let Braun go. What do we do now?”  
“I think I know someone who might be able to help us.” the young doctor said.  
“Who is he?”  
Max smiled. “She’s someone I met in a synagogue in London when I was studying. She too is in Vienna.”  
“A woman? What does she do then?”  
“You’ll find out when we’re there.”

Oskar Rheinhardt didn’t feel extremely comfortable as he walked down the streets of Lower Vienna, since a lot of scumbags lived around that place. There were lots of muggings in this place, lots of immigrants who couldn’t afford anything better and just the lowlife of Austria living in the same place.  
“Here it is.” His companion said, stopping in front of quite a well-kept dwelling. The windows had metal bars in front of them like it was a jail, and there was a sign above the door that marked it as a shop.  
“Are you sure this is the place? This really is no place for a woman if she lives alone.”  
Max smiled. “Don’t worry about Aaliyah, she’s strong.” And he took his hat off before opening the wooden door into the shop.  
The Inspector sighed and did the same as the good doctor.  
When he got inside, he frowned.  
The place was decorated with blue and yellow coloured Persian carpets on the floor, a variety of decorated vases, some European art, a nice massive oak desk on the left and a closet with bookshelves and drawers in the back against an empty wall. One staircase went up to the next floor.  
“Who’s there? A female voice asked, before a gun was loaded.  
“Aaliyah? It’s me, Max. Max Liebermann.”  
A head poked out behind a hanging carpet. “Max! I haven’t seen you in ages!”  
The woman who was named Aaliyah was clearly of Arabian descent, her skin colour was too light to be from the European colonies most immigrants came from these days, and too dark to be of Balkan descent. Her face wasn’t very feminine, her brow ridge was too pronounced, and her cheekbones were quite high.  
As she came running down the stairs, Oskar noticed her bejewelled dress. A large golden coloured cloth covered most of her black hair and her female curves, but beneath it she wore a soft red coloured gown with Arabic symbols on it.  
Aaliyah came towards them and hugged Max tightly, one hand on his hat-less head and one on the small of his back. “How are you? And how’s your family doing?”  
“I’m fine, thanks. And everything’s alright with my parents and Leah.” Max replied as the two of them parted. “I’m sure we can chat for ages, but I need you to help the Inspector here.”  
The Arabian woman turned to Oskar. “What is it that you need?”  
“Uhmm, I think the doctor over here can explain it much better than I do.”  
“I take it this is connected to the murder of Miss Löwenstein?” she asked as she turned her brown eyes towards the young doctor once more.  
“Yeah, I think I have the killer’s profile. And knowing your clientele, you might know who we’re looking for.” Max replied. “It’s someone with a notable reputation, who will do anything to protect it, including killing whoever can destroy that.”  
“Ah, you’re looking for someone of high society, who’s got everything to lose. Please, you must come in here.” Aaliyah went to her bookshelf and tried to take a leather covered book out.  
Instead of the book coming out, the entire wall moved to reveal an entrance towards something that looked like an office.  
As Oskar entered, he saw another desk, also oak, with a large landscape painting behind it. There was a lot of ink and paper stacked in a cabinet close to the desk. In front of it stood two wooden chairs and a single one behind it. There was also another closet, locked with metal chains at its handles.  
“Okay, what the hell are you?” the Inspector asked. “Because I’m confused.”  
The Arabian woman turned towards him. “I’m a private investigator, Inspector. I take on cases that the police are too busy for or finds it too much of a private affair, like husbands and wives cheating on each other or suspecting the other of such things. That’s even why PI’s like I exist.”  
The policeman nodded. He’d heard of several PI’s in this city, some were actually famous for their case busts, especially this recent one who’d come over from London about three months ago, some guy from the Middle East called Muhammed El Fakir or something, who’d helped Scotland Yard in a serial killer case. “We kinda need a list of names, see if any of them are connected to Fraulein Löwenstein.”  
“Sure, I can supply you with several names who’d fit Max’s described profile.” Aaliyah said, taking a key from God knows where to open the closet against the wall. “And please, take a seat.”  
“I’m going up to the toilet, I’ll be back!” and Max left the back room, leaving Oskar alone in the room with the woman who was rummaging through a closet filled with brown folders.  
“So… you handle cases of high profiled people then?” the Inspector asked as he sat down on one of the chairs.  
The Arabian woman turned around with a whole stack of folders in her arms, dumping them on her desk before sitting down in front of him. “I do. Most require a lot of discretion, keeping a low profile is essential in most cases.”  
“How did you get acquaintanced with Doctor Liebermann?” Oskar then asked.  
“We met in London, we were both taking classes in medicine, and I attended a couple services at the synagogue in London to see what a Jewish service looked like. I’ve only ever seen Islamic services.” Aaliyah told as she went through her files, writing down in black ink a name as she thought it fit the profile. “He first didn’t know I was actually a woman, but many men make that mistake since I almost never wear what I wear right now. I usually dress in man’s clothes and put on a fake beard to hide my jawline.”  
“That’s unusual.” the policeman said.  
“It’s necessary in certain parts of this continent in order to be taken seriously. I hate it, to be honest. To be seen as merely a broodmare is disgusting.” the Ottoman woman told with a straight face, continuing her search for possible suspects. “And I’ve seen enough people crossdressing. There were quite a lot of aristocrat men who dressed up like a woman when away from their wives. Sometimes, you just want to be someone else than that you actually are, just to get away from your daily life and live in some fantasy world you have created in your mind.”  
“I never thought of it that way.” the older man confessed.  
“Most people don’t, since it’s a sin in the eyes of all Abrahamic religions.”  
That was the exact moment Max returned from the toilet. “Phew, I needed that.” and he too sat down. “Did I miss anything?”  
“I just had an interesting convo with the Inspector here about crossdressing.”  
“Oh, you told him about that.”  
Oskar smiled. “I immediately saw why you wouldn’t think she was a woman at first sight, especially in men’s clothing.”  
“Lots of people do it.” Aaliyah closed the last folder. “I think this is about it. But watch out, some of these men are really dangerous and violent on the inside.” and she handed the police officer the paper.  
Rheinhardt looked it over. “There are quite a few powerful men on here. Are you sure of these names?”  
“Their violent nature and their wish for prestige blurs the lines between morality and personal justice. In the face of losing their reputation, they lose their human morality and become protectors of their own reputation at the cost of other human life. Powerful men stand to lose everything if word of an affair resulting in a bastard child got out into the newspapers. Any other man who has not much to lose or even anything at all, would have either married Miss Löwenstein or run away.”  
Oskar was impressed with the woman sitting in front of him, and it was probably showing. It was most likely the same impression he had when Max said he had a psychological profile on the killer.  
Max smiled. “Told you she was good.”

It was that night that Otto Braun was killed as well, only leaving a piece of paper with numbers on it behind on the table.  
“He knew the killer and was killed because of it.” the Inspector said as he looked on Braun’s note.  
“Any idea what that means?” Max asked, pointing at the piece of paper.  
“You remember what Fraulein Sucher said? That a man approached her while she was visiting a grave? These must be the other graves where Otto approached people.”  
“What if this isn’t about the séance? What if there was indeed someone having an affair with Miss Löwenstein?”  
The older man frowned and crooked his head to the side. “I’m not following. Otto Braun knew, and there might be a second man around the table.”  
“That’s because Braun was her partner in crime, they shared secrets that the other kept. Maybe he was even in on the blackmail, who knows? But he knew the man she was having an affair with, and the killer knew that he knew.”  
“We have to check your lady friend’s list.”

It was morning again when Max arrived back home.  
His mother was already up, instructing a maid on breakfast. She turned as he entered through the front door. “Max! Where have you been all night? We didn’t see you again after the opera.”  
“They found a second dead body last night, it was Charlotte Löwenstein’s partner in deception. We established the motive and we went over a list with possible killers, but we’re still without luck so far.”  
Rachel sighed. “Your father really wasn’t happy when you suddenly disappeared.”  
“I know mom, but he really shouldn’t try to dictate my life!” the young doctor said as he removed his hat and coat. “It’s getting annoying.”  
“You know he wants the best for you, we all do.”  
“I know mom, it’s just the way he shows it.”  
Mrs. Liebermann couldn’t really argue with that. Mendel really wanted Max to be successful, since that was a strive within the Jewish community here in Vienna. She knew Mendel wanted Max to propose to Clara soon, so he would settle down like the sons of his friends had done, but Rachel had a feeling that her son had fallen in love with someone while in London. Most likely a non-Jewish woman, and probably unapproachable from the looks of it.  
“Before you forget, Max, we’re all going to the art exhibition tonight.”  
“I’ll remember mum!” her son said before running upstairs.  
Rachel just shook her head. “Boys.” she sighed.

The séance murders were a brain breaker to the entire police force. First, how could a woman have shot herself seemingly without a weapon? Well, that would be murder then. Second, where was that bullet? It wasn’t a through and through, could the killer have removed it then? Impossible, the bullet wound’s edges would’ve given that away to the pathologist. Third, how did the killer know that Otto Braun knew? Had he heard Oskar tell Strasser that Braun knew more? Or had Strasser told someone?  
Too many questions, no answers in sight.  
It kept Max’s brain busy during the day while he worked in the hospital and it also caused most of his silence during dinner.  
“I invited Clara as well, she’ll be here by 7.” Mendel told.  
Max didn’t really say much. He’d expected it of his father.  
“Have you thought about proposing yet?”  
“Mendel…” Rachel started.  
“What? It’s been what? Two years now?” Mr. Liebermann asked, turning from his wife to his daughter. “I think it’s about time!”  
The older brunette shook her head.

One of the potential major candidates was throwing the party at the exhibition in the Albertina. Therefore, it was no longer about the art itself, but about politics. And Max hated politics, he hated the atmosphere.  
Clara, on the other hand, was in her element. She loved the attention that people gave her when she was all dressed up on another man’s arm. The only good for Max was that the party brought was the type of people that were there: rich, snobby and all about success. The type who would kill their two murder victims.  
“Wouldn’t this painting be a nice mantlepiece?” Clara asked, pointing at a landscape painting by Camille Pissarro from the late 1870’s.  
Max’s lips twitched. “I’m personally not a fan, but it would be nice to bring colour in the room.”  
Suddenly, there was some commotion behind. Several journalists and photographers went running towards the entrance of the building.  
As Max’s head turned first, he saw Aaliyah enter the building wearing a dark red with gold accents bejewelled gown with a matching cloth to cover her hair and shoulders. Her flat shoes also matched the red and gold. Aaliyah kept looking down towards the floor, only sometimes looking straight into the camera with her big brown eyes. It made him smile, seeing her playing the political card as a Princess of the Ottoman Empire only when necessary.  
“Who’s that?” the blondine asked.  
The young doctor looked down to see the face of the woman he’d been courting for the last 2 and a half years, to see a shocked expression. Apparently, seeing someone else in the spotlights made her feel… not like normal so to speak.  
Aaliyah wove away the journalists with her hand before approaching the pair at the Pissarro painting. “Vultures, that lot.” she huffed.  
“I can only imagine.” Max said with a little smirk on his face.  
Clara regained her composure. “I’m sorry, I haven’t seen you before. May I ask who you are?”  
“Of course, you may. I’m Princess Aaliyah Karìm, third daughter of Prince Abd Al-Qadir from the Court of Jerusalem.” when she finished with that, she smiled at Clara.  
“Oh, ehm, I didn’t know there was even a Princess in Vienna.” The blonde said, starting to feel uncomfortable under the foreigner’s gaze.  
“Most people don’t know. You have been forgiven.”  
Max only now recognized the fake Arabian accent in Aaliyah’s tone, he knew she could speak any language without accent if she wanted, but clearly her being an Arabian Princess was tonight’s cover to get to talk to the wealthy elite.  
“I… uh… excuse me for a moment.” and Miss Weiss left.  
The young doctor let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.  
The Ottoman Princess crooked her head. “Somebody would think you didn’t like her company and needed someone to scare her away.”  
“My father is putting pressure on me to get engaged.” the brunet murmured.  
“When did that happen?” the woman was frowning.  
Max sighed. “At first, he was being a lot more subtle. Gentle nudges, some hinting… he actually said it at dinner just 2 hours ago.”  
“Yeah, that really doesn’t help.” Aaliyah shook her head. “Don’t let yourself be talked into something you don’t want, you know it can be disastrous.”  
“I do, but I don’t think my father does.”  
“I think Muhammed can talk some sense into him.”  
“You’d do that for me?”  
The Ottoman nodded. “Muhammed has an appointment at the synagogue with a client, he’ll talk to your father after that if he can find him.”  
“I’m sure he can.”

Rachel watched as Clara Weiss, her son’s date for the night, ran up the stairs in what seemed to be a hurry. She raised an eyebrow and turned her gaze to where she knew her son was.  
He stood there, talking to a young woman in a beautiful red and golden dress that fell lose around her figure. And for the first time in a couple long years, he was smiling from ear to ear.  
It was no fake smile, Mrs. Liebermann recognized those the second she saw it.  
This time around, the smile reached his eyes. It was the smile the older woman had been waiting for each time he met a woman. And this time, it was there.  
Her son had found happiness in someone, and though it might not be Clara who did this to him, she would welcome the woman into her family just because she made her son happy.  
Rachel turned to her husband and easily slipped away since he was busy talking to the host and his wife. She’d been making pleasantries with some of the other wives of important men, but they weren’t going to be her friends, acquaintances at best.  
As she got closer to the pair, she heard glimpses of their convo over the people she was passing. It was seemingly about their jobs, their daily life. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything important?”  
Max’s eyes went wide with shock. “Mom! What are you doing here?”  
Not replying to her son’s question, Rachel turned to the beautifully dressed woman. “I’m Max’s mother, it’s nice to meet you. May I have your name miss?”  
“It’s Aaliyah, Aaliyah Karìm. You must be Rachel Liebermann then?”  
“So, Max told you about us?” in the corner of her eye, she saw that her son started blushing, whether it was shame, embarrassment or plain positive emotion, it was something new.  
“He has been keen on telling me and our mutual friends all about his family. He’s proud to have you.”  
Rachel smiled at Aaliyah. Only now the Jewish woman saw that she was Ottoman, and probably from a rich family if she could afford such elaborate gowns. Mendel wouldn’t be happy if his son married out of the Jewish community, but his mind would probably change if these dresses were common for her.  
“Mom, I’ll properly introduce you two sometime later, but I have a murder to solve first.” Max said before extending his arm. “Shall we, Aaliyah?”  
“But of course.” and the foreigner hooked into his arm.  
As the pair walked away, Mrs. Liebermann could already see a wedding happen. Now… what to do about Clara? Well, maybe nothing.  
The older Jewish woman saw Clara appear on top of the staircase, watching Max going into another room. Most likely with tears in her eyes, Rachel couldn’t see that from the distance she was at right now.  
Now that was done, she had to prepare a family gathering to silence her husband once and for all about marrying outside of the community.

“Embarrassed that your mother saw us?” Aaliyah asked as they were looking for potential suspects among the elite of Vienna in the Ancient Greek section of the museum.  
“I don’t think it was embarrassment, I just don’t want her to think the wrong thing.” Max replied.  
“And what would be the wrong thing according to you?”  
“That I’ve been seeing women behind Clara’s back.”  
The Ottoman Princess chuckled. “Actually, she’s been seeing other men behind your back.”  
The young neurologist looked at his companion in shook, who just nodded her head a couple times. “Why would she do that?”  
“To make you jealous probably, and get you to work harder for her, but I guess you haven’t really noticed it.” the Muslim woman told. “I actually saw her in disguise a couple times at the park, another man almost every time. There were always flowers, and the guys who were trying to court her weren’t from the Jewish community.”  
“I guess I’m more disturbed by the fact that she even did what she did. If the rabbi finds out, he just might excommunicate her for it.”  
Aaliyah shrugged. “I guess it could be classified as unfaithful behaviour unbecoming of a woman of her standard, but she just wants attention from men. My eyes did see that.”  
“And I cannot give her what she wants, apparently.” Max murmured, just loud enough for his companion to hear it and shoot him a look.  
“Doctor Liebermann, I hadn’t expected to see you here!” a voice behind them said.  
The young doctor turned around. “Oh, Commissioner Strasser. I didn’t know you were here.”  
“I’m supporting the Major’s campaign.” the older man then turned to Aaliyah. “Princess Aaliyah, I only just heard of your arrival to the museum. I hope the press hasn’t been too much of a pest?”  
“They’re behaving, for now at least.”  
Then Strasser saw their arms interlocked and his eyes went wide. “I didn’t… are you…?”  
The Ottoman Princess gave him a look. “Courting? No. Max has merely volunteered as a friend to be my companion for the night.”  
“Of course. I shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions.” the police officer said.  
“It’s what humans do when they see a young man and a young woman together. It’s nothing strange Commissioner, it only means you’re merely human.”  
As the police commissioner of Vienna scurried away, Max was the one to chuckle. “You deflated that fast.”  
“You learn that when you deal with pests like the press.”  
“I guess I can learn a lot from you.”  
“As I from you.”

Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt was standing in a higher hallway above the room where Vienna’s elite were chatting. Everyone on Lady Karìm’s list was there. Now it was a process of elimination to go through.  
So, the killer was someone with status within Vienna, established status. Thus, several upcoming names in any important industry could be eliminated.  
Next, it was someone who would do literally anything to keep an affair with a peasant silent. Someone without morality. That scratched another couple of names off the list.  
Maybe the way of the murder could point to a specific person, but the how question was still unanswered.  
When the young doctor and Lady Karìm entered the room below, they drew attention towards them. It was part of their plan, so Oskar could do his work without being disturbed. Most attention would be on Lady Karìm, dressed her part as an Ottoman Princess. Though it would have been fun to see Max in clothes like that too.

During the evening, the three of them were able to isolate about 5 possible suspects. Each of them had contact with Charlotte Löwenstein at least one month before her death.  
It put a smile on Max’s face, knowing they were closer to finding their answers for this strange murder.  
When he went to his study to get something before he retired to bed, he saw his sister waiting for him.  
“Leah? What are you doing in here?”  
“Be honest with me here Max, why did I have to comfort a crying Clara tonight at the museum?” Leah asked. “She’s my friend Max, if you two broke up I don’t want to be left standing in the middle of it.”  
The young doctor sighed. “You want the truth? Okay, I don’t think this courtship is going anywhere, and I have no idea how to tell Clara that.”  
“Has something come between you?” the younger Jewish woman then asked. “All seemed well a couple months ago.”  
The brunet shook his head. “It’s just… I don’t think we share enough anymore, it’s like we’ve been drifting apart. I’ve never put much value in titles and appearances, and this case I’m running with Inspector Rheinhardt hasn’t given me much positive things about the Viennese elite. I just want… to be able to be who I am and not keep up some mask.”  
Leah then smiled softly. “Thank you, I needed to hear it.” then, a grin appeared. “So… who was that lady you were seen with?”  
“Leah!”  
The older Liebermann sibling laughed. “Oh my God, your face!”

In the morning, Max evaded his father as much as he could until breakfast, when it became impossible to do so.  
Mendel was angry, everyone would be able to see it, but he didn’t say anything. And for that, Max was glad. Screaming wouldn’t have done anything good to the current situation.  
Rachel was the first to say something. “I’m planning a family gathering soon, I’ll write and send out the invitations tonight. Both of you may bring someone if you wish so.”  
The young doctor knew that she was referring to Leah’s husband Mikhael and in his case, Aaliyah. He smiled at his mother. “I’ll ask around.”  
“You do that.” Mrs. Liebermann said.

Inspector Rheinhardt frowned as he saw three brown folders in the gloved hand of Muhammed El Fakir, Princess Aaliyah’s male disguise. “What are those?”  
“The three who are most likely to have killed both Otto Braun and Charlotte Lowenstein, as they didn’t seem to have alibies for both nights. The two others whom you chose as possible suspects were with their wives and staff, they couldn’t have slipped away, gone to those addresses unnoticed and return so quickly.” the deeper voice said.  
“Well, then I guess the next step would be the murder weapon. What is lethal enough to kill in one shot but not leave any evidence behind? Is there anything you know?” Oskar asked.  
The PI hummed. “I do know about this experiment with human fibre, but I am unfamiliar with the practicalities of such a bullet other than the fact that it leaves no traces.”  
Strasser, who’d been standing in the doorway of the office the whole time, looked impressed. “I’m going to report this to the Major.” But before he could even move an inch, the Middle Eastern PI had already yelled “STOP!” quite loudly.  
It stayed silent until Muhammed turned. “I believe Inspector Rheinhardt has already told you about the willingness of this suspect to kill anyone who knows or even suspects it was him. If you report this, our suspect will go on a killing rage. This time there will be at least three victims; myself, Inspector Rheinhardt and Doctor Liebermann, not counting the possible deaths of the entire Liebermann family.”  
The Commissioner went silent, eyes wide.  
“So please, no report to the Major until we actually figured it out and the killer is either in custody or dead, shot by an officer.” the PI advised.  
“I guess I didn’t consider any consequences.” the oldest man said.  
“And as you just said, you reported the progress to the Major’s office every day. Though I don’t think it was the Major himself who has been behind all this, it might be a close associate of his.” Rheinhardt said, now standing next to the woman in disguise. “When I told you that Otto Braun might know more than he told us, who else did you give that information?”  
Strasser looked at the ground before him. “There is one…”

It happened when Max went home from work.  
One second he was passing some people, the next he was faced with a gun pointed towards his forehead and people around him and the guy holding the gun were scurrying away.  
Turns out, the guy who killed Charlotte and Otto was now prepared to kill in public, leaving hundreds of witnesses.  
“Hans Brückmüller, drop the gun.” it was Aaliyah in Muhammed’s attire. Max knew because he’d seen the outfit before, in London while on a night out to a local bar.  
Inspector Rheinhardt was beside her, gun focussed on the man.  
“You wouldn’t understand! You’re just a foreigner!”  
The crossdresser stepped forward a bit. “I’ve seen the camera hole in the wall, I see that she blackmailed you. And for the sake of your own family, you shut her up. But when you heard about the Inspector here and Dr. Liebermann questioning Otto Braun about the murder, and them suspecting he knew the killer was you. I have to say, it took the 3 of us and at least 5 days to finally figure it out, giving us the clue that the killer must have a high intelligence level.”  
Max was sweating, it was literally dripping from his forehead.  
“Though you are very intelligent, you did in the end make a mistake. The equipment you used to turn the key around from the wrong side of the door, medical equipment that has your initial in it. Next it was the human fibre bullet, only an intelligent medic would know such a thing about it and the fact it would disintegrate once it connected to organic tissue.”  
‘Well, that makes sense…’ the young doctor thought now he actually thought about it. It wasn’t something he’d ever come up with. Behind Mr. Brückmüller, he saw Aaliyah draw something shiny from her sleeve.  
“But now it’s over. Even if you shoot us, all of Vienna knows what you did.”  
The older medical doctor snapped out of whatever trance he’d been in, to see people watching the altercation from their windows and the fact that they were surrounded by Viennese police officers.  
“Please, put down that gun. It’s not going to do you any favours. If you kill that man, you will be charged with three counts of murder 1st degree. That could become the death penalty, with 2 counts, it will possibly be a lifelong sentence.”  
“It doesn’t matter anymore, I’m already dead.” and Brückmüller removed the safety pin from his gun.  
As soon as that click was heard, Aaliyah had thrown whatever it was she had in her hand straight into the old man’s back.  
Brückmüller stiffed up, before falling to the ground with a piece of metal sticking out of his back that looked suspiciously like a small knife. Blood was oozing from the puncture wound, it had hit the aorta and most likely severed it completely. The hit had instantly killed him.  
Max looked up, seeing the woman he’d known for several years now radiating calmth. “Remind me to never get in your bad book.”  
“Max, you’ll never be in my bad book.”  
Rheinhardt bucked down to feel Brückmüller’s neck. “Yup, this one’s dead.” and he wove towards a couple officers. “Get the coroner over here!”  
“I think I’m free to go now?” Dr. Liebermann asked.  
The Inspector looked up and nodded. “But I’m expecting you the first thing tomorrow morning! Strasser is gonna want to hear about this one.”  
“I’m already looking forward to it.” and together with Aaliyah dressed as Muhammed, the two disappeared into the crowd.

Back at Aaliyah’s place in Lower Vienna, Max sat down on one of the Persian chairs on the second floor above the porcelain shop while Aaliyah redressed behind a Chinese silk screen. “I’ll be having a family gathering next week, my mom just notified me about it.”  
“Exited to see them again?” the Princess asked, throwing the male clothes over the screen.  
“Well, I’d love to see my nephew again. Though I’m not so excited to see auntie Tamar again. She’ll probably pester me again for not being married yet.” the young doctor replied.  
“There’ll always be family members like that, ones who pressure the youngsters to get married as soon as possible to provide the family with even more family members for them to coo over.” the sound was somewhat muffled, indicating she was putting on a dress. “I’m getting letters from my sister Ashraqat stating the same. She’s like only a year younger and got married 3 months ago! Apparently, that gives her the right in her eyes to pressure me into doing the same.”  
“Do you even want to get married?” Max asked.  
“Only if the right man comes along.” her head poked out from behind the screen with a grin on her face. “Why? Are you offering?”  
The young Jew started blushing and stuttering an answer. “I-I-I mean… uhm… o-only if y-y-you’d w-want t-to?”  
Aaliyah laughed. Not at him, but because of his stuttering. “After you buy me dinner. I do want a couple dates first, just to know for sure that we both want this.”  
Max smiled. “So… uhm… would you like to accompany me to the family gathering?”  
“I’d love to.” was her answer.

Max had dressed up in the nicest black suit he had hanging in his closet, recently ironed by his mother who had a knowing smile on her face the whole time. He’d also officially broken up with Clara, stating that they weren’t on the same timeline in their lives, that he couldn’t give her what she truly needed to be happy.  
Tears did flow afterwards on Clara’s part, but there were no hard feelings.  
Just two days after their talk, the Liebermann family heard about her engagement to a highborn Polish-Jewish man who was about 3 years older than her, who went by the name Yehoshua Itskowitz.  
“Nervous?” Rachel asked, standing just next to her son.  
“A little bit.” he replied, feeling his sweaty palms.  
The mother of the family smiled. “It’s normal, you know.”  
“I know.”  
Then, the doorbell rang.  
Mrs. Liebermann stopped her son from going towards it. “I’ll go.” and she went to get the door.  
And in the doorway stood Aaliyah, wearing quite the elaborate gown. It was light blue with golden accents, lots of rubies, emeralds and sapphires on the top and slowly becoming less as you looked down the skirt, following a pattern of ice pricks hanging from a ceiling. Her veil this time out was a non-see through golden cloth reaching down until her waist with sapphire’s only to make it match the dress. It covered her hair, neck and shoulders primarily.  
Once again, it had turned Max speechless.  
“Please, come on in!” Rachel said, stepping aside to let the young Ottoman woman in.  
“Thank you, Mrs. Liebermann.” Aaliyah said as she came in, removing the dark cloak she’d been wearing during her trip to the Liebermann’s house. One of the maids took it from her.  
“Are you going to introduce us Max?” Leah asked with a grin.  
The younger Liebermann sibling blushed. “O-of course. Uhm… father, Leah, please meet Aaliyah. We know each other from University in London. We were both taking classes in anatomy.”  
The younger Liebermann woman held her hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, Aaliyah.”  
“Likewise, Leah.” the Ottoman said, shaking the hand, before turning to the father of the family. “You must be Mendel, then. I’ve heard about your shop from some of Vienna’s elite, I know for a fact that some are even interested in investment.”  
That caught the older man’s attention. “Investments you say? Well, I’m not saying no to those!”  
“I thought as much.” and the Muslim woman grinned.  
Max let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, he’d expected a bad reaction from his father. He was extremely glad that this woman knew how to smooth things like this over.  
“The rest of the family will soon arrive.” Rachel mentioned.  
“Of course, love. I’ll check on the cooks.” and Mendel left the room.  
“I hope you don’t mind eating kosher?” Mrs. Liebermann asked.  
“I primarily eat vegetarian actually. Muslims too aren’t allowed to eat pork.”  
“Whoop! Learned something new there!”  
Aaliyah smiled. “We never stop learning.”  
And indeed, the rest of the Liebermann relatives were starting to drip in.  
First of course were Leah’s husband Mikael and their son Daniel, who went to a boarding school not that far from Vienna to become an army officer for the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.  
Next were Mendel’s younger brother Haskal and his wife Ziva with their 18-year-old daughter Sarah. They were pleasantly surprised by Aaliyah’s presence and Ziva asked about Muslim traditions in the Ottoman Empire during the entire night.  
Rachel’s brother Raanan, his wife Perle and their son Gidon were just as warm welcoming as Rachel had been. They were surprised though by the fact that she knew so much about Jewish tradition and even spoke the Hebrew language.  
The only family members who seemed to dislike Aaliyah were that aunt Tamar, her husband Asher, their sons Dudel & Elijah, and their daughter Tzipporah.  
The Ottoman Princess didn’t mind them, since she knew there were always going to be family members who disliked who one of their own was courting. She didn’t seek their approval, since she knew she wouldn’t need it. Rachel and Mendel were the ones whose approval she needed if she wanted to marry their son in the near future.


	2. The Magic Flute Characters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made up many things along the way.

It had been several weeks since the family gathering had happened, and Aaliyah was basically a standard guest in the Liebermann home now.  
Vienna had also calmed down on the hype ride that had been the public display where Herr Hans Brückmüller had been confronted with his crimes while holding a gun to the young Mr. Liebermann’s head.  
But Vienna wouldn’t be Vienna if nothing happened.

On the same night, a drunk alcoholic and a cleaner found bodies.  
The alcoholic found the body of a green snake, abducted from the zoo, hanging down from a lantern. Blood dripping from its many wounds down onto the street below.  
The cleaner found the bodies of 3 women in the brothel where they worked. They were massacred, as if by a mad man. The blood was everywhere.  
Inspector Rheinhardt was at the brothel after having been assigned the case by the commissioner.  
Strasser probably would’ve given this case to Von Bulow if he hadn’t seen Doctor Liebermann and Lady Karìm sitting inside Rheinhardt’s office. Apparently, he believed the partnership would be beneficial to the Viennese police force.  
Oskar turned to his companions. “Do you see anything interesting?”  
“The bodies are as they’ve been found?” Aaliyah asked.  
“Nothing’s been moved yet.”  
The Princess, now dressed in practical black and grey clothing with only a dark red cloth bejewelled with amber stones indicating her Ottoman heritage, looked at the body of the oldest woman. “This one didn’t try to run, it’s as if she’d been expecting the man who killed them.”  
“Indicating either a client or someone who just didn’t stand out enough to suspect them of wanting to kill you.” Max then said, smiling as he knew where she was getting at.  
Then the sergeant showed up. “Inspector, you might want to see what’s back there.”  
“Lead the way then.” Rheinhardt said.  
The three had to go up some stairs, passing the second body of another prostitute.  
They came into a room, where the third victim had been laid out on a bed, covered, free of blood, eyes closed, hair sprayed out and her hands closed around something with beads.  
“Killer with a conscience?” Oskar asked, turning to the neurologist.  
“Could be.” Max replied.  
“Nah, I don’t think so.” the Ottoman woman told.  
The Inspector frowned. “And why do you think it’s not that?”  
The Princess pointed to the floor. “The bed’s been moved. This was not the original position. Would any two of you please move it backward against the wall?”  
The Inspector and the Sergeant shrugged their shoulders and moved the bed back, revealing a rune like symbol on the floor drawn in blood.  
“What the hell are we looking for?” Oskar asked, raising his arms.  
Max was staring at the symbol as he said: “Someone with a knack for symbolism, one that involves murder and drawing in blood.”  
“Wait a second… I might have seen this symbol before. A snake was stolen from the zoo, killed and hung. This symbol was also drawn in the snake blood.” the Ottoman said.  
“So… whoever did that to the snake, killed these women.” the Inspector stated.  
“That would be accurate.”  
Oskar turned to Max. “With what you have seen, can you already give us a description of the killer?”  
Dr. Liebermann nodded. “It’s not much, but we’ll figure things out along the way. The person who did both crimes is intelligent enough to get around mostly unseen, but that could most likely also be contributed to his average appearance and his daily job is also likely to be a fairly normal one or at least nothing prestigious.”  
“We can work with that.” Rheinhardt said as he wrote some key words down on his notepad.  
“We have to figure out where this rune comes from.” Aaliyah said, pointing at the bloody floor.  
The Inspector turned to the 3rd man in the room. “Sergeant, get a photographer in here, and get the place searched for weapons, cash and anything else that could lead us to the identity of the person who did this.”  
The younger man nodded and left, leaving the trio alone.  
Aaliyah stepped closer to the woman on the bed, who even now looked peaceful in death. She slowly reached out to take whatever it was that was in her hands. Bit by bit, the beady necklace revealed an iron cross with a Jesus on it. “It’s a rosary, guys.”

The owner of the rosary turned out to be a man from Lower Vienna, close to the neighbourhood where Aaliyah’s cover porcelain shop was located.  
The Ottoman woman could only hear what was being said in the interrogation room by Oskar, Max and the rosary owner, who was apparently named Viktor Krull. The man wasn’t talking at all, he hadn’t said a word since he came in, which didn’t help his innocence as his mother claimed. The Viennese police was a physical evidence based one, which was good in most cases, but the foreigner had the feeling this was more of a psychological case.  
When both men came out, the Princess made eye contact with the man she was courting.  
“He doesn’t fit the profile of the killer, that one is quite clear.” Oskar said before sitting down in a hallway chair. “But it was his rosary we found on the scene, in the hands of the youngest prostitute.”  
“That merely means he cleaned up that woman. It is in his Catholic belief that she should pass God’s judgement, he probably did not want his God to see her like that.” Aaliyah argued.  
“He’s clearly not of the intelligence level we’re searching for.” Max then said. “He has the mind and judgement of a child; he cannot care for himself.”  
“And how can a man like that get into a zoo to kill a snake? He doesn’t have the skills to do so.”  
Rheinhardt nodded. “Of course, you’re right. But maybe this man saw something and must be protected like a witness. I’m going to talk to Strasser about this.”  
“You’d like to go home?” Dr. Liebermann asked.  
The Ottoman woman nodded. “Yeah, it’s probably the best to rest this for the day. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

It was around 4 o’clock when Max and Aaliyah were back at the Liebermann mansion.  
“Ah, there you are!” Mendel said, opening his arms wide. “We’re having some investors over for dinner, dress your best!”  
“Sounds fun.” the Ottoman Princess said in a slow tone, as she put both her and Max’s coats on the rack near the door for the maid to properly hang them with the rest.  
“Leah and Rachel are already upstairs, also getting ready. Why don’t you join them?” and the older Jewish man left for the kitchens to inspect the food that was being made.  
“This was so not what I had in mind.” the young doctor said as he went upstairs with the woman on his arm. “I had hoped this would be a quiet evening together.”  
The Muslim woman squeezed his arm. “We’ll get through this, no matter how dull.”  
“I like your optimism.” and they both smiled.  
Rachel came out of the room, dressed in a tight black gown with blue accents and some silver jewellery around her neck and wrists. “I guess you heard?”  
“And I’m not happy, I’d hoped to spend this night differently.” Max grumbled.  
His mother smiled. “Just one night. If there’s a next time, you two and Leah will be excused.”  
“Thank you, mother.”  
Aaliyah let go of Max’s arm. “I’ll get changed, you don’t mind if I use your room?”  
“Certainly not.”  
When the Princess had closed the door, Rachel smiled and said: “You two are a much better fit than you and Clara would’ve ever been.”  
“I think so too.” the young doctor confessed.

There were indeed a lot of rich people sitting around the table.  
Aaliyah recognized several of the people, like Count von Triebenbach, Cosima von Rath and Karl Überhorst.  
Each individual that was there as a dinner guest was extremely rich and belonged to the Viennese elite circles that Mr. Mendel Liebermann was quite desperate to belong to.  
The Ottoman Princess did understand the older Jewish man. The circles of high society were addicting to people who sought a place to belong, especially now Jews and foreigners from the Balkan region were often cussed out for their heritage alone. These were tumultuous times for everyone, and pro-Arian sentiment was growing in the German speaking countries.  
“I didn’t know you were also interested in investing in Mr. Liebermann’s shops, Princess Aaliyah.” Von Triebenbach remarqued.  
“That’s because I’m not here for the investment plans.” and Aaliyah laid her left hand on top of Max’s right one. “The younger Mr. Liebermann and I are now courting, have been for several weeks now. I’m here for him.”  
The older man’s eyes went wide with shock. “I… uh… had no idea, milady.”  
“Nothing’s gone public yet, but we probably will within the next two weeks.”  
Lady von Rath began smiling. “I shall congratulate you, then.”  
“Thank you, Cosima.”  
Max clutched her hand in his, squeezing it lightly with a smile on his face.

Nothing else really happened until the dessert was served.  
The Count retrieved a piece of paper from an inside pocket of his jacket and handed it over to Mendel.  
Aaliyah immediately saw what it was and snatched it away before the older Jewish man could see what was on it. “It’s got that rune on it, the same we found at the crime scene.”  
“Princess Aaliyah, crime scenes are no place for a woman of your standard!” Von Triebenbach said.  
The Ottoman turned towards the older man with a fierce look on her face. “Count von Triebenbach, I’m an Ottoman woman. Killings are a normal occurrence at the Courts, it sometimes looks like ancient Imperial China. It doesn’t matter who you are, what matters is how you react to murder. I help solve them, and my father is proud of me that I’m doing this.”  
This shut the Count up, and the Princess used this to stand up and announce she was retiring for the night.  
Max followed her upstairs, into his bedroom.  
“We should show this to Rheinhardt tomorrow.” And Aaliyah handed over the piece of paper to her courter.  
The young doctor only now got a good look at it. The rune was on a shield, in the left hand of a broad-shouldered light-haired man with a sword in his right that pointed up to the sky. The man was standing on a pile of bodies with the typical characteristics of people from the Balkan region. “The Arian Brotherhood? Never heard of them before.”  
“They’re still a little fraction, but they’re growing in members.”  
The neurologist frowned. “It’s interesting though, why people would want to support a group that promotes hatred while everyone’s religion is basically against such hate.”  
The Muslim woman chuckled. “Only you would try and find out the psychology behind such people. But that makes you exactly you.”  
“And you love me for it.”  
“That I do.”  
It was that moment that Max took his chances and kissed the woman before him.  
Aaliyah grinned. “Really Max?”  
The neurologist just smiled.  
The Ottoman rolled her eyes.

Neither her son nor Aaliyah had returned after that little thing with Count von Triebenbach, which Rachel understood since the man didn’t understand the difference between the European society and the Ottoman one and thus accidentally insulting her. She herself was only starting to understand an Empire that different from the one they lived in.  
“I’m going upstairs to check on them.” Mrs. Liebermann said to her husband while the maids were getting rid of the used plates and leftovers on them and went upstairs straight to her son’s room.  
The scene she found there seemed to come straight out of one of her romance novels.  
Aaliyah was laying on the bed, covered by the blankets and only strands of hair falling across her face from underneath her non-bejewelled black hijab. Max was laying by her side, but on top of the blankets, still wearing the clothes he wore to dinner.  
The sight itself was cute and innocent, just a young couple in love who weren’t married yet.  
The older Jewish woman smiled at the sight of the two, slowly closing the door and tiptoeing down the stairs.  
“And? How are they?” Leah asked, still sitting around the dinner table but now reading a book.  
“Asleep.”  
The oldest Liebermann child chuckled. “It’s so like my brother to fall asleep so early in the evening. It’s not even half past 10!”  
“They probably need that sleep.” and Rachel started sipping from her evening tea.

The next morning, everything seemed just fine again.  
Everyone got ready for their work or another place they had to be at, no one spoke about the incident of the previous night, not even Mendel.  
Max and Aaliyah started their stroll towards the police station at 9 o’clock, knowing Rheinhardt would be waiting for them unless there was another dead body somewhere. It was when they were halfway through the park that they encountered Clara Weiss and her fiancé, Yehosua, of 2 months.  
“Max! It’s good to see you again.” Clara said, tightly holding the other man’s arm.  
The Ottoman cast a quick look at the man, and noticed he had the quite typical Ashkenazi Jewish features of a hawk beak nose, jet black hair, pale skin and a sturdy body. Then there was the resting face, which made him look extremely grumpy. To her, it was extremely unattractive.  
“Hello Clara, it’s good to see you’re happy.” the young doctor said civilly.  
“We’ll be getting married in 3 months, probably early May if Rabbi Samuel is free around that moment. It’s gonna be a typical Ashkenazi wedding.” Miss Weiss told, extremely excited to talk about the wedding.  
Aaliyah looked at her hand that held the engagement ring. It was simple enough, a silver ring with a stone laid in that was big enough to catch someone’s eye.  
“If I may intervene,” Yehosua started. “may I ask to your occupation Mr. Liebermann? I myself work at the Austrian National Bank as an accountant.”  
Max felt the need to roll his eyes at the question, but physically refrained from doing so. “I’m a doctor at the mental ward, exploring my interest in the science of the mind, but I am well trained in the traditional track of medicine.”  
“Following Sigmund Freud, huh?” there was a smug look on Itzkowitz’s face. “I hope that it brings you some income, the lady on your arm doesn’t look cheap.”  
“Now listen…” Dr. Liebermann was about to jump to his love’s defence, but she stopped him.  
The same fierce look that she had on her face the night before while facing off Count von Triebenbach appeared again. “That’s a very jumpy conclusion that you make there, Mr. Itzkowitz. But to correct your mistake, I shall introduce myself as I do the Viennese elite.” her chin went up a bit and a self-confident posture appeared. “I am Princess Aaliyah Karìm, third born daughter of Sultan Abd Al-Qadir and his first wife Djamila Karìm of the Court of Jerusalem. I have studied medicine and speak 4 languages, so don’t underestimate my intelligence or integrity as a woman.” then, she removed the black cloth that had been protecting her bejewelled white sapphires white hijab. “I don’t allow men to insult me or my heritage, Mr. Itzkowitz.” and she turned to the man who was courting her. “I think we should go, we’re done here.”  
“We are. Until next time, Clara.” and the young doctor hooked into his love’s arm and they went on their way to the police station.  
“You’re five minutes late.” Rheinhardt said as he was looking on his watch as they entered the office.  
“There was a little altercation in the park.” Max said. “But we took care of it, no need for police involvement.”  
Oskar raised his eyebrow. “What happened then? Was somebody attacked?”  
“If you count verbal attacks? Yes, I attacked a man for basically calling me a prostitute.” Aaliyah said as she dumped the black cloth on one of the chairs in the office.  
“It was my former girlfriend’s fiancé.” Max said.  
“I hope you didn’t do a number on him, or I’m gonna have to arrest you.” the Inspector jokingly said.  
The Ottoman wove it away. “He’s fine, but he probably won’t be so smug anymore.”  
“Good. You said over the phone you had something for me?”  
The neurologist retrieved the little piece of paper from his pocket. “This artwork has that symbol on it.”  
Rheinhardt took it and looked at it. “‘Purify our blood’… Maybe someone around here can find out who made this. We’ll start there.”  
Suddenly, a seargent barged in. “Sir! There’s another body.”

This time around the poor man who met his end was found in the poorer district of Vienna. The symbol of the Brotherhood of Primal Fire and been drawn in blood on the wall above the poultry seller, who was an immigrant from the Czech province of Bohemia.  
“This killer is really getting serious now.” Oskar grumbled. “At least now we know for sure that that simpleton Viktor Krull isn’t our murderer but either a witness or the person who actually was first on scene, he’s been in that cell the entire night, Colonel Kabok made sure of that.”  
“As you said, that man was indeed a simpleton.” Max remarked.  
“The wound pattern is exactly the same as it was on the women at the brothel.” Rheinhardt said. “Everything is the same.”  
The doctor looked at the wall. “We have to find whoever made that work.”

They didn’t have to wait long, as most good artwork is always signed.  
Andreas Olbricht was the man who made it, but on commission of Count von Triebenbach.  
Max had cringed the moment the guy said that name, knowing that his father had welcomed the Count into his home with the hopes of gaining some investments for a 3rd shop in the city.  
In the meantime, Aaliyah had taken a good look at the artwork in the atelier. Between the pieces for the Opera ‘The Magic Flute’, there were portraits. They were of a woman, depicting her in one portrait as a strong, beautiful woman and in the second as an imprisoned frail woman with grey hair.  
As Oskar made the demands of more answers, a woman appeared on top of the stairs. “Andreas? What’s going on?”  
“Nothing mother! You should go back to sleep.” Mr. Olbricht called out.  
The woman was old, with long grey hair and dressed in a white sleeping gown.  
The Ottoman saw the similarities between the portraits and the painter’s mother, the second portrait being her right now: old and frail. Then she turned to her companions. “I don’t think we’ll be getting more out of this man. Maybe I can get some answers from the Count instead.”  
The Inspector huffed. “I hope you’re right, because I don’t think I can take more deaths right now.” and he walked straight out of the atelier.  
When the young couple also walked out, the Princess said: “I’m going to dive into the archives at the police station first. I have a feeling this goes deeper than we think. And maybe you should interview Krull again, maybe you should let him draw.”  
“That’s actually a really good suggestion.”

The police archives were extremely large, it still held modernized files from the early Renaissance time period of Vienna. It had always been a densely populated city with immigrants coming from everywhere in Europe, but large populations often clashed, and thus crime.  
Aaliyah tried to find a connection between the Brotherhood of Primal Fire and the victims that had already fallen due to this psychopath of a killer. Apart from these people being immigrants, there was nothing else. They did jobs that no respectable person would do, so they weren’t ‘taking’ jobs away from the Austrians.  
This case was an absolute brain breaker.  
The Muslim woman closed the latest police report on violence against immigrants and rested her forehead on the table, groaning.  
“Man, you look wrecked.” Said the constable that had been helping her getting the files.  
“My brain feels fried.” and she lifted her head to face the officer. “Found something interesting?”  
“It’s probably not what you’re searching for, but I found this report from about 30 years ago. A young woman was raped by a Hungarian soldier.”  
Aaliyah frowned. “I’ll read it, but it’s gonna be the last one for today.” and she took the file from him.  
“Good night further, ma’am.” the constable said before leaving the room.  
The Ottoman blinked a couple times to get her eyes to focus once again before opening the file. It contained hospital records from after the rape, the testimony of the woman’s son who’d only been 6 years old at the time it happened and the military tribunal where the accused was officially stripped of his titles and medals and send back to the Hungarian part of the Empire with a dishonourable discharge since such actions were unbecoming of a soldier of the Empire.  
‘I can still hear it so clearly… my mom’s screams came over the music that was on. These voices… I can’t get them out of my head, it’s torturing me. My mom isn’t the same anymore, she’s… not full of life anymore.’  
And even though those sentences were only the first two lines of a young boy’s rambling to a police officer, the Princess couldn’t help but wonder what physiological scars both the mom and the boy had and were still suffering from after 30 years.  
But there was nothing obvious that linked the murders to this particular incident.  
“I really should go home now.” and she abandoned that particular desk at the police station, leaving the files for the clerks to refile in the morning.

When Max came home, he saw his parents sitting at the dinner table.  
“Aaliyah not with you today?” Rachel asked.  
“She took a dive in police records, and she wanted to go home afterwards.”  
“Well, this came in for you two today.” and Mrs. Liebermann held up an ivory white envelope.  
The young doctor frowned as he walked towards his parents to take it.  
 _‘To Max Liebermann & Aaliyah Karìm’_, it said in a curly cursive handwriting. No address, no stamp.  
The young Jewish man took his gloves off and opened the envelope.  
It contained two tickets for the evening’s show in three nights time, the last one, of ‘The Magic Flute’ and a note that said: _‘It might be early, but I shall congratulate thee on thy courtship. By courting Lady Karim, you have now automatically entered the circles of the high Elite in Vienna. Though not everyone will be so welcoming. And as a little gift for young love, I give you these tickets for the Opera show. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have all those years ago. With kind regards, Cosmia von Rath’_  
Mendel was looking at his son with curiosity. “And? From who is it? And what is it?”  
“It’s uh… tickets for the opera actually.” Max told. “They’re from Lady von Rath.”  
Now it was his mother’s turn to frown, and before his father could say anything, the young man went upstairs to his room.  
Mendel looked at his wife. “That was weird.”  
“It was.”

While preparing herself to retire, the rape case kept creeping up in her brain. She knew this was more Max’s area, he actually loved Freud’s ideas while she stuck to the medicine for the body. His opinion on that case file would probably answer why she was so interested in that one, their minds thought much alike and they were very much in sync even though they only knew each other for not yet 5 years.  
“What is this killer even playing at…” Aaliyah murmured to herself.

Luckily for them, no dead body turned up during the night or early morning, giving the Inspector, the Doctor and the Private Investigator time to come up with ideas.  
Rheinhardt stood in front a large piece of paper plastered to the smooth wall of his office with a pen in his hand, ready to write it down. “So, the first official murders were those of the prostitutes in Brackley, the mark of the brotherhood on the floor. The second was the one on the poultry seller in Lower Vienna. But how does that snake tie into this?”  
“There is something more to the case, but we can’t figure it out.” Max said, fingers drumming on the wooden desk of the Inspector. “It looks like violence against non-Austrian-Hungarians, with the symbol and all, but that snake throws that theory in the trashcan.” He turned towards the woman he was courting. “Do you have an idea?”  
Aaliyah shook her head. “Not right now about this, but I need your thoughts on this case file.” and she handed him a police file.  
“A case from 30 years ago?” Oskar frowned at that.  
“It just stood out, I don’t know why.” the Ottoman told, leaning back in the chair.  
The young doctor opened the file to read the details. “Apparently this man is hearing voices, it’s the psychological effect of his mother’s rape in combination with the music he heard.”  
“And what is so significant about the music?” Rheinhardt asked, frowning.  
“Because it was during the last performance of ‘The Magic Flute’ 30 years ago.”  
The Inspector frowned. “Then… what does this have to do with our murder cases?”  
“The characters, inspector.” Max said. “The first act is a prince fighting against a monstrous reptile, the snake from the zoo who was found hanging near Mozart’s statues. Next, 3 women appear, which Mozart calls the servants of the Queen of the Night. Then you have Papageno, the bird catcher.”  
“The poultry seller.” the Inspector said, now following Max’s thoughts.  
“The only characters who have not been killed yet are Monostatos, an African man, and Sarastro, a man who judges with wisdom and compassion.” Max then said.  
Oskar turned to the Princess. “How did you find that?”  
“It wasn’t me; it was constable Otto Müller.” Aaliyah replied.  
“That man has good eyes in his head, even though he didn’t know the significance of it. Is there a name?” Rheinhardt asked, turning back to the good Doctor.  
Max shook his head. “The woman did not wish her name or her son’s to be published, afraid of retribution from the soldier’s family.”  
Oskar sighed. “Damn.”  
“Anyone involved with the opera could be our killer.” the Ottoman then said, after some silence.  
“You don’t believe these are racial killings?” the Inspector asked.  
Aaliyah shook her head. “Think about it, the people in the opera have what we call ‘less than honourable jobs’ which are often done by immigrants. But the killer could also disguise his killings as ‘purifying’ related in order to throw the police force off of his tracks. As we established earlier, this killer is smart. He knows about the Brotherhood of Primal Fire; he might have used that to his advantage to not get caught.”  
“That’s a very plausible theory.” the young Doctor asked.  
The Sergeant came storming into the office.  
“Another dead body?” Rheinhardt asked.  
The young man nodded. “Yes sir.”  
“African ethnicity?”  
“He was from Somalia, sir.”  
The Inspector sighed. “Seems like we found our Monostatos, then.”  
“What?”  
“It wasn’t directed at you!” and Oskar started writing on the paper furiously.  
The young Sergeant went silent and slowly closed the door.  
His two companions gave each other a look as the older man began writing out the character names and linking them to the dead people and snake.  
“We have to build a new profile.” Max said.  
“I thought exactly the same.” Aaliyah said, taking a pen from somewhere on the desk and started writing on the paper. “So, what do we know?”  
“Well, the man is hearing voices, the voices of the characters. To quash his demons, he thinks he needs to kill the characters, which he probably casts through his daily life. Again, he’s smart, he knows what he’s doing… and maybe he wants us to catch him…” the Freudian disciple spoke that last part of his story extremely slow as he trailed of in his thoughts.  
The Ottoman looked up from the paper. “Max?”  
The Inspector too had stopped writing to look at the young man. “Doctor Liebermann?”  
“I think he’s gone off to psycho-land for a little while.” the Princess said, leaning back once more.  
“Doing what?” Rheinhardt asked.  
“I know about this Freudian aspect of criminology: psychoanalysis.” Aaliyah told. “I read it in Max’s notes from some of his classes. It’s really interesting.”  
“Is it difficult to understand?”  
“It depends on one’s level of intelligence.”  
Then, Max snapped out of his trance. “Inspector, the next victim, who’ll represent Sarastro, it must be a policeman!”  
The Inspector frowned. “Why do you think so?”  
“Because the character of Sarastro represents justice. Police officers bring the perps to justice, that’s why this man wants us to find him, he needs one of us to be his last victim.” the young Freudian disciple replied. “The symbol now makes sense; racial killings are high on the police agenda because there are so many immigrants in Vienna.”  
“You might have a point there.” Oskar reluctantly admitted. “The safety of all those living in Vienna is at stake when a group is targeted. We had a meeting about it with all Inspectors of the force just last week.”  
“So, we now have established the full killer profile, but we still have no name, or anything else for that matter.” Aaliyah said.  
That was the moment that Max ducked to his bag. “We have something. This drawing from Viktor Krull that he gave me yesterday.”  
It was a child’s drawing of an Austrian-Hungarian officer with a sword in hand.  
“That’s why no one sees anything suspicious.” Rheinhardt said. “The weapon is hiding in plain sight!”  
“So, either this guy is actually an Imperial officer, or he dresses up as one.” the Ottoman’s eyes fell back onto the file she’ given the man who was courting her. “We have to find the name of that boy or even that woman’s name… wait, I think there might be something else.”  
“And what would that be?” the Inspector asked.  
“The paintings of a woman in Andreas Olbricht’s atelier, one was of a young woman who was full of life and enjoying the city, the second was the same woman but shackled inside a holding cell. A rape can do something like that to the victim, it’s one of the many possible mental effects.” the Princess told. “The woman in the painting looked suspiciously a lot like Andreas’s mother.”  
“This time, the clues were in the details.” Max told, proud of the woman sitting in front of him.  
“I’ll put out an arrest warrant for Andreas Olbricht, with the warning that he might be armed.” Oskar said. “Thank you both, I guess.”

The same day, Andreas Olbricht was arrested at the theatre.  
There was drama, with the man screaming that he had to silence the voices in his head. And yes, he had dressed up as an officer of the Imperial army, as a way to put the blame on the man who raped his mother all those years ago.  
It was an extreme case of psychological trauma, the extent of which would have to be studied up close by the Freudians. Max wasn’t a part of that group, but as he had a first-hand experience of the case, he was asked a lot of questions by Sigmund Freud himself.  
Once again, the duo of Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt and Max Liebermann were hailed as heroes by the people of Vienna for putting a killing lunatic behind bars.

Aaliyah came to visit the Liebermanns that same night. As she wanted to go upstairs to see Max, Mendell approached her.  
“Aaliyah, I think I might need your advice on something.” he said.  
The Ottoman frowned. “What is it about.”  
“About… the people who’ve given me offers, for the business investment.”  
“Alright, I’ll take a look at them.”  
On the dinner table were two, thin, red booklets that most likely had the contract of the offer inside.  
Both of them sat down.  
“So… who are they?” the Princess asked, pointing at the booklets.  
“The Count von Triebenbach… and a man called Julius Reisinger.” the older Jewish man replied.  
Aaliyah’s lips twitched at the mention of the Count who had insulted her integrity during that dinner. “What do you wish to know? The fact that Von Triebenbach is a member of the Brotherhood of Primal Fire? Or the fact that he just seems to hate non-Germanics?”  
“I understand he insulted you, but that doesn’t give you the right…” Herr Liebermann began.  
But the Ottoman cut him of mid-sentence. “He’s probably going to argue that you, as a Jewish man, need friends in high places because of the anti-Semitism. But it is actually caused my men like him, who are overly patriotic and seem to think that only Germanics should be ruling this country and that everyone who’s Jewish or Slavic should be kicked out and send back to the land they came from. I’m sorry, but that man is bad news. As for this Mister Reisinger, I’ll dive in the records as I have no prior knowledge of him at hand to tell you. And by the way, you might want to consider approaching the Von Rotschilds or Franz Klein for an offer of investment.” then, she left and went upstairs to see the man she actually came for, leaving the father speechlessly behind.

“You had an argument with my father?” Max asked as Aaliyah came in.  
The woman first took a deep breath and exhaled as well before she started to talk. “First, he’s asking for my help and my opinion on the men who’ve given him a business offer. Next, he’s talking down at me and saying I shouldn’t be so judgemental because I don’t have the right!”  
The Freudian disciple looked down at his notebook. “Men in power are afraid of strong women, that’s why they talk down to women like you, tell you that you’re only good enough for marriage and childrearing and that that is what you should strive to.”  
“You’re psychoanalyzing their actions?” the Ottoman asked after chuckling at the comment.  
“It is more or less a fact. Fear is the greatest emotion that pushes humans to hold onto their traditions and reject anything that doesn’t fit in that world view.”  
“I really love you, you know that?”  
“As long as you’ll remind me that you do.”

The next day, Max went to his work at the hospital, leaving Aaliyah with barely anything to do until the evening. Thus, she decided to go for a nice stroll in the park while wearing nothing too richly decorated.  
You never know which types were strolling around.  
The snow that had fallen several days prior had finally completely melted away, but the air was still extremely cold. Her cotton with woollen black abaya was too thin on its own, the very reason she was wearing a grey raincoat on top of her garment.  
There weren’t too many people in the park, only people who were either on their way to work or those who just came back from their nightshift work.  
Then, the Muslima heard crying. She looked around the corner to see a person she knew.  
Clara Weiss was sitting on a wooden bench, dressed in a grey wool coat and hat, crying into her hands.  
“Miss Weiss?” the Ottoman said as she approached the other woman. “What is it that you are crying about?”  
The Jewish woman’s face was completely red and puffy, her blue eyes full of tears and her nose had nearly gone purple from the combination of water and the cold air. “It’s Yehoshua… his family wants to move back to Poland because of the anti-Semitism here.”  
“But you’re not ready yet to leave Vienna.” it was a statement from Aaliyah, not a question.  
“Everything I know, and love is here, my community, my friends… I can’t leave them behind.”  
“Have you two spoken about this yet?”  
Clara shook her head. “I don’t even know how to start.”  
“Telling him how you feel? I’ve always heard that that helps.” the Muslima told.  
That moment, the blondine chose too properly look at the Princess. “Do you know why Max let me go?”  
Aaliyah shrugged. “From what he told me, he thought he couldn’t give you what you wanted the most. And I can see you are desperately in search for a family, that what you’ve missed since both your parents died. You think marriage and children are the solution, and Max… he doesn’t think he’s ready for it yet.”  
“Don’t you want a husband and children?” the Jewish woman asked.  
“Miss Weiss… Clara, I just turned 23. I personally believe that 27 or up is a good enough age to have your first child. And though I know that not many people will agree with me, I for a fact know that a woman’s childbearing age is at least up till 42. So please, don’t hurry to much when it comes to that.” and that is the moment Aaliyah decided to leave Clara to her thoughts on that bench.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I believe that the 3rd episode is somewhat dull, I'll be making up a case.


End file.
